Artificial Love
by enaikaykayai
Summary: This is a short story that I wrote for my writing class in college. It basically follows the manga and drama series "Absolute Boyfriend," but I added a few of my characters to it. It is written to satirize how people in today's society are overly obsessed with technology.


Walking through the mall, Naomi passed by a store. It reads, "Perfect Partner."

"Perfect Partner huh… Having a perfect boyfriend sounds nice," Naomi thought to herself as she stood in front of the store.

Ever since college started, Naomi never had any luck with the guys. She never thought it was important to have a guy in her life. Now that college is almost over, all she has are her friends and her closemouthed dog, Momo. She is content with her life, but having a boyfriend to take care of her and be there for her isn't so bad. But the problem is, a perfect boyfriend doesn't exist in this world.

"Whatever, I could just live my life alone with Momo on the mountains and we could watch each other grow old," brushing the idea off as she walks away from the store.

That night, Naomi rested alone in her bed as questions started flowing through her head: "how would they get the 'perfect partner' for me anyways? Set me up for a blind date? Yeah… Been there, done that. That's not going to work unless they create a human robot for me, then maybe… But that's impossible!"

Exhausted at the thought, Naomi switched the lights off as her heavy-lidded eyes closed and she drifted off into the night.

_Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep._

That's the cue for Naomi to wake up and walk Momo.

"Ughhh Momo, I'm so tired. Why hasn't anyone invented an exercising machine for pets yet?" Naomi complained to herself as she dragged herself out of bed.

The closemouthed dog did not reply.

They quickly got ready and headed out to the nearby park.

As they were walking around the park, they ran into Naomi's old high school friend, Adrianna, and standing next to Adrianna was this stunning young man. Naomi could not take her eyes off of him. He was the most handsome person she has ever met, besides Channing Tatum, but this person was alive and in front of her! Naomi could actually touch this person!

"Naomi Williams! Is that you? I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" Adrianna disrupted her thoughts.

"Uh… Hi Adrianna. I'm good… How are you? By the way, who is that standing next to you?" Naomi questioned.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you guys to each other," Adrianna apologized, "but Naomi this is my robot boyfriend, Justin. Justin, this is my high school friend, Naomi."

"Did you just say robot boyfriend? How come everyone has a robot boyfriend now? Is it a trend now?" Naomi voiced.

Adrianna laughed.

"Naomi, you are still as innocent as before! But Justin and I have been together for a few months now. Have you been living under a rock though?" Adrianna teased Naomi.

"I guess…" Naomi answered.

"But yeah, there's this company called 'Kronos Heaven' and they actually create an ideal boyfriend for you. You get to pick out his looks, traits, and everything for a down payment of 500 dollars! After you order your boyfriend, they send it straight to your house and you get a 90-day trial. If you're pleased with the results, you can keep it with payments for 500 dollars each month for half a year. If you're not satisfied, you can always return it back to the company. You should try it though! After getting Justin in the mail seven months ago, I've been the happiest girl ever. He's the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for," explained Adrianna.

"Really? Should I go check it out then?" Naomi curiously asked.

"Yeah you should! After you're done, call me!"

Right after they got home from the park, Naomi showered and got ready to head to the mall. The first stop she has to make is "Perfect Partner."

"Hi! Welcome to Perfect Partner. Do you already have an ideal boyfriend or are you a new customer?"

"I'm a new customer here. I was wondering how this whole thing works. A friend of mine has one and I've heard of many people owning one, but I'm just curious about how exactly does it work? What does it do?" said Naomi.

"Well, the name of the store says it all. You get to create your perfect partner however you want! It's like a Build-A-Bear workshop, except the human robot version. You can choose between a male or a female, athletic or not, mature or playful. Basically, anything you want in a boyfriend or girlfriend! Since you're a first-time customer, we'll let you try the robot for 90 days for free and if you're unsatisfied, you can always bring it back to us with no charge and if after 90 days and we don't see you returning it, we will start charging your bank account. The price of each robot is $3000, but you can pay it by installments. Do you still want to give it a try?" the lady explained.

Naomi agreed and so the lady led Naomi to the back room where there are hundreds of computers laid out on the tables and guided her to one specific computer with the number 25 on it.

"You can move the mouse and start typing in your description afterwards," said the lady as she walked back to the front of the store.

Naomi moved the mouse and a question appeared on the screen. It reads in big letters: What is your ideal partner like?

Naomi started to type into the box.

"My ideal partner would have to be a fit male that is taller than five feet ten, looking similarly to Channing Tatum. He has to know how to cook and clean. He has to have a stable job. He has to have good hygiene. When I'm feeling sad, he would be there to cheer me up. When I'm sick, he would be by my side to take care of me. He has to be respectful, kind, patient, and caring. He has to share the same interests as me, for example, hiking, shopping, singing, dancing, and watching movies. He has to be somewhat of a romantic guy, but most of all, he has to love me for who I am and who I'm not."

After reading her answer over again, Naomi pressed submit and walked up to the front of the store where the lady was standing. The lady got Naomi's information and then informed Naomi that her partner will be coming in the mail shortly.

A week has passed when Naomi received a loud ring from her front door. She opened the door to find a big box that is about six foot tall. Overly excited, she ran into the house to get a pair of scissors to open the box. After tearing the cardboard box apart, to her surprise, a Channing Tatum look-alike opened his eyes as he walked out of the box.

Standing there in disbelief, the robot came up to her as he held out his hand to introduce himself.

"Hi Naomi, my name is Jared and I will be your boyfriend from now on."

They shook hands as he picked her up and carried her into the house.

"Okay, now you sit down while I'll cook us something really quick for lunch."

While he is preparing stuff, Naomi sat there wondering if it was reality. She stood up, walked over to Jared and pinched his arm.

"Ahhhhh!" Jared screams, "what was that?!"

Without saying anything, Naomi rushed into her room to call her parents.

"Mom, dad! You have to meet my new boyfriend," said Naomi in excitement.

"Where did you meet him?" Mrs. Williams questioned.

"Oh, I ordered him at this store at the mall," answered Naomi.

"You what…?"

"Yeah, he's a robot! I don't care; he's the best boyfriend ever! He's cooking lunch for me at the moment, but you have to meet him," said Naomi.

"Naomi, you cannot date a robot. They don't know better," Mrs. William warns Naomi.

"Mom… Leave me alone. Whomever I date, it's my problem," said Naomi as she hung up the phone.

And that was the last time Naomi ever talked to her parents.

Ever since Jared came into Naomi's life, her relationships with other people have gone down the drain. She's been spending most of her time with Jared that she has no time to do other things.

Momo died within the first month that Jared moved in because Naomi kept forgetting to feed him or even take him out for walks at the park. He suddenly became so sad and hungry that he died in the middle of the kitchen, trying to reach for the bag of dog food.

And with all Naomi's friends that she had before Jared entered her life, she has lost them all. Every time that they would call, the conversation would usually go like this:

"Hey Naomi! Do you want to go grab something to eat and catch up today?" a friend of hers would ask.

"Oh hey, sorry I can't today. I'm spending the day with Jared. Maybe another time?" Naomi would suggest.

It has gotten so repetitive, that her friends have stopped contacting her and Naomi would be too busy to even notice.

In her eyes, Naomi got her prince charming and that was all that matters. But maybe, just maybe, it wasn't the best decision to make.


End file.
